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Senate Bill 5518

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  • 6 FOREST RESERVE IN SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. great number of inferior height, all clothed with virgin forests and intersected by deep valleys abounding in brooks, rivers, and waterfalls, combine to make this a region of unsurpassed attractiveness. Standing upon the summit of one of these sublime heights the eye often seeks in vain for the bare mountain side—the evidence of the devastating ax—and before one stretches out a view magnificently beautiful. If the national parks already established have been chosen for their unusual natural beauty, here is a national park, conspicuously fine, awaiting official recognition as an addition to the number. SUPERB FORESTS OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN SYSTEM. No other portion of our country displays a richness of sylva equal to that found in the high mountains of the Southern Appalachian region in the variety of its hard woods and conifers. Professor Gray, the eminent botanist, is authority for the statement that he encountered a greater number of indigenous trees in a trip of 30 miles through western North Carolina than can be observed in a trip from Turkey to England, through Europe, or from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountain plateau. Here is the home of the rhododendron and the kalmia; here is the meeting place of the mountain flora of the North and of the South, and the only place where distinctive Southern mountain trees may be found side by side with those of the North. Here, too, are found trees of from 5 to 7 feet, and even more, in diameter, which tower to a height of 140 feet, and, occasionally, much higher, and these patriarchal trees, though innumerable, are but the greatest in a dense forest composed of many other large, beautiful, and valuable varieties. In fine, here is the largest area in the South Atlantic region of virgin forest and the finest example of mixed forest (by which is meant a forest of deciduous and evergreen trees) in America. There is but one such forest in America, and neglect of the opportunity now presented of saving it may work irretrievable loss. The forest once destroyed can not be restored. Reforestation is a slow process; it is for subsequent generations. The experience of the old countries in this matter stands as a warning. The increasing scarcity of timber is causing the large areas of forest in this part of our country to be rapidly acquired by those whose one thought will be immediate returns from a system of lumbering utterly reckless and ruinous from any other point of view, and in a few years this forest will be a thing of the past. The National Government, and it alone, can prevent this destruction and, by the application of the methods of scientific forestry, preserve the forest as a heritage and blessing to unborn generations. NECESSITY OP PRESERVING THE HEAD WATERS OF MANY RIVERS RISING IN THESE MOUNTAINS. At this late date the calamities of flood and drought resulting from the wanton destruction of forests are well known. The forest acts as a storehouse of moisture for the dry season and tends to prevent floods. Many rivers rise in these mountains, and the same causes which will destroy the forests will work irreparable injury to the sources of the water supply. It is the duty of the National Government, as the guardian of the national interests, not the least among which are the rivers, to protect their sources and the water supply of the country. HEALTHFULNESS OF THE REGION. It is a well-recognized fact that the plateau lying between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge is one of the most deservedly popular health resorts of the world. The geographical location and the geological formation are peculiarly adapted to the production of those conditions which make for health in general. Malaria is unknown. It rivals Arizona as a sanitarium for those suffering from pulmonary troubles. No better place could be found for the establishment of a sanitarium for the soldiers and sailors of our country. CLIMATE IS FINE THE WHOLE YEAR. By reason of its considerable altitude its summer climate is more agreeable than that of regions farther north. Those living in the South, but in regions of less altitude, and in increasing numbers others from the North and West, are learning to appreciate the advantages of its summer climate. For many years to those wishing to
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).